Saturday Morning Surprise
by suburbs
Summary: Caitlyn had expected to drink her coffee and read a book. She hadn't counted on running into Shane Gray.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock._

_A/N: Instead of moping that there hadn't been a lot of Caitlyn stories recently, I decided to try and write one._

_Dedication: To crazinessgirl3 who has been championing Caitlyn recently. And I know she loves Shane and Caitlyn._

Caitlyn sat at her neighborhood coffee house sipping her non-fat mocha. She came every Saturday morning and read a book at the same corner table in the back; it was her favorite part of the week. She could relax and unwind after her hectic work week, but today she was having a hard time concentrating on her book because the guy a few tables over kept staring at her. She could tell from the look on his face that he thought she looked familiar but couldn't quite place who she was or how he knew her. She knew exactly who he was and could easily have ended his struggle, but she was enjoying watching him puzzle it out on his own. She had always liked to give Shane Gray a hard time.

Plus, she was a little annoyed that he had obviously forgotten who she was.

Admittedly, they had never been super-close. She had been his girlfriend's friend, not exactly a major player in the life of the popstar. But they had hung a few times while he was dating Mitchie, and she had enjoyed their verbal sparring and practical jokes.

"Hey, Caity," a voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Whatcha reading this week?" She looked up to find Sarah, one of the other regulars, standing next to her. Her eyes flickered over to Shane's table, and she almost laughed out loud at the look of surprise on the singer's face. He had obviously figured it out.

"_Persuasions_," she said as she held up the book in her hands. "One of my favorites."

"I'm more of a Nicholas Sparks kind of girl," Sarah said with a grin. Then she leaned over and whispered, "Did you notice the hot guy over there checking you out? He looks just like Shane Gray. If you don't start smiling and flirting with him, I may have to hurt you."

Caitlyn laughed and shook her head as the other girl headed over to the counter to pick up her drink. The laughter died in her throat as she noticed Shane pick up his mug and head over towards her, a smile on his face.

"Caitlyn?" He asked with a touch of uncertainty in his voice. "Caitlyn Gellar?"

"Hi Shane," she replied.

"I can't believe it's you," he said, pulling up a chair and sitting down at her table. "How long has it been? Four years?"

"Five I think. My last year at Camp Rock when you came up for the weekend to see Mitchie."

He had the grace to blush a little at the memory. He had actually come to camp to break up with the brunette singer he had been dating for over a year, and the last memory Caitlyn had of Shane was glaring at him while she held on to her sobbing friend.

He looked down at the table and asked quietly, "Do you still talk to her at all?"

"I do. We had lunch a few months ago when I was in New York. She's doing great."

"I'm glad," Shane said, and Caitlyn was happy to hear that it sounded as if he genuinely meant it. "I read a few reviews of the musical she's in. I was really proud of her."

"She's amazing! You should catch a show next time you are in the city."

An awkward silence followed as Caitlyn tried to think of something to say. She was pretty sure this was the first time they had ever been alone together, and for some reason her mind was going completely blank. Where was the witty banter she was known for when she needed it?

"So what are you up to? Do you live here in LA?" Shane finally asked.

Grinning with relief at being asked a question she could easily answer, she replied, "I work for Rick Riley producing at his studio downtown. And yes, I live down the street."

"You always said you were going to be a famous producer," he said. "I'm not surprised that's what you're doing. You were pretty driven if I remember correctly."

She felt ridiculously pleased that he remembered so much about her. "I'm not exactly famous yet, but I get to work with some really good up and coming bands."

"Fame is over-rated," Shane said with a frown. "If you can make good music that you're proud of and keep your privacy, you're lucky."

The conversation was turning way too serious too quickly for Caitlyn's liking, so she raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Wow. I never thought I'd hear Shane "Diva" Gray complain about being famous. I thought you loved the spotlight, Mr. Front Man."

She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She watched his eyes harden and his body stiffen at her words. She quickly added, "I'm joking, Shane. That's what we used to do, remember? Give each other a hard time. We drove Nate and Mitchie nuts."

He relaxed a little and gave her a small smile. "I remember. You were one of the only ones besides Mitch who would stand up to me and treat me like a regular person."

"You needed someone to keep you in line."

"Is that what you were doing? Keeping me in line?" He asked, sounding amused.

"Of course. Mitchie was too love struck to do it, and Nate and Jason were so used to you that they let you get away with too much. That left me."

"I thought you just enjoyed torturing me," he observed.

"Nope. It was all for your own good. You should be thanking me for looking out for you."

"I don't think so, Gellar. I still haven't quite forgiven you for stealing all my hair products that one time."

"I gave them back eventually," Caitlyn reminded him.

"I walked around with curly hair for three days!"

Shrugging, she replied, "You actually looked better with it curly. I was doing you a favor." She tilted her head and looked at him critically. He had stopped straightening his hair recently and was wearing it short instead. It suited him. "I like the way you have it now," she said without thinking.

She had obviously surprised him with the compliment because she saw his eyes go wide and he looked uncertain.

"What?" She asked a little defensively.

"I was waiting for the punch line," he replied.

"No joke. I like it like this."

"Thanks."

The awkward silence was back, and she wished she had just stuck with making fun of him. She felt her heart-rate speed up a little as his eyes swept over her.

"You look good," he said in a low voice that made her blush.

He had always been a flirt, but it had never been directed at her before. Now she could see why girls had always swooned over him. She knew she looked like a mess in her sweats with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, but the way he was looking at her made her feel beautiful.

Not wanting to show that he was getting to her, she rolled her eyes and answered, "We both know I look like I just rolled out of bed."

"That's not a bad thing," he said with a smirk. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he explained, "If you look this good when you get out of bed in the morning, I can only imagine how amazing you'd look all cleaned up." She was pretty sure her face was bright red; she couldn't remember the last time someone had made her blush like this. She took a sip of her coffee, hoping he wouldn't notice how flustered she was. Then he added, "Plus, I sort of liked the image of you in bed."

She almost choked on her drink. She certainly hadn't been expecting him to say that. Before she could respond, his phone rang, and he looked almost apologetic as he answered it.

"Hey, Nate." Glancing down at his watch he frowned. "Sorry about that. I just ran into Caitlyn from camp and lost track of time." He listened for a moment before looking at her and saying, "Nate says hi."

"Hi Nate," she said, loud enough for the youngest member of Connect Three to hear her.

"I'll be there in about a half hour," Shane said as he hung up.

Caitlyn felt both relieved and disappointed that their conversation was ending. She enjoyed talking to him, but there was something unsettling about the effect he had on her. "It was nice to see you," she said as he stood up to leave.

He looked at her searchingly, almost like he was trying to figure out if she really meant it. He hesitated a moment before asking, "Would you like to have dinner tonight?"

She felt her mouth go dry as she tried to figure out if Shane Gray had just asked her on a date. "To catch up or like a date?"

"A date," he answered, sounding almost as nervous as she felt.

"Oh. Okay," she said.

"Okay, you'll go?" He asked.

Laughing, she nodded. "Yes, I would like to have dinner with you," she said so there wasn't any confusion.

He smiled at her. "Great! How about you give me your phone number, so I can call you later to make plans? If I make Nate wait much longer he's going to get really grumpy."

"Good to know some things never change," she said before giving him her number.

When he smiled down at her, she felt like a million butterflies had started fluttering in her stomach. "So I'll talk to you later then," he said.

She smiled back at him and nodded. As he turned to leave the coffee house, she began mentally going through her closet, trying to decide what to wear to dinner. She grinned as she remembered the little black dress she had bought for her cousin's wedding.

Shane Gray wasn't going to know what hit him.


	2. Studio Time

_Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock._

_A/N: I bet that this isn't the second chapter anyone was expecting. But for some reason this is what came. I know it is very short. I promise I'll get back to Caitlyn and Shane when I have some time._

Nate was pacing in the small, dingy recording studio as he waited for his bandmate to show up. Usually they made their albums over in the larger, flashy studio across town, but this project was different; it wasn't quite a secret, but it was something totally new for them. The band was big enough now that they had creative control over their music, but the label didn't have to like it. The executives had decided to demonstrate their displeasure by sticking the band in the satellite studio they usually reserved for demos and new acts, which Nate thought was hilarious since the guys actually preferred the smaller, more private setting.

But he certainly wasn't going to let the label know that.

"I'm here," Shane announced as he strolled into the room. "Let's get started."

"We have to wait for Jason. He ran across the street to grab a coffee," Nate replied, as he checked on the guitars for the third time that morning. When he glanced up Shane was typing something into his phone and smiling. "So how's Caitlyn?" He asked as soon as his friend put down his phone. "Does she still talk to Mitchie?"

"She's good. She lives here in town and works for Riley producing." Nate couldn't help but notice that Shane's face lit up as he talked about the girl none of them had seen in years. "She and Mitchie still keep in touch. And she's having dinner with me tonight."

Nate raised an eyebrow at this little piece of information. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Shane replied rolling his eyes.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jason asked as he entered the room with a tray full of coffees. After placing them on the table, he handed each of his friends a cup.

"Shane ran into Caitlyn Gellar this morning and he's meeting her for dinner tonight," Nate answered.

"Caity? Mitchie's friend?" Jason sounded very excited. "I want to see her too. Can I come?"

Nate had to work hard not to laugh at the look of horror on Shane's face. Before his friend could reply, he jumped in. "You know what? I wouldn't mind catching up with her too. If I remember correctly, she was hot."

He normally wouldn't refer to a girl like that, preferring words like pretty or beautiful, but he knew the term would push Shane's buttons. And aggravating Shane was one of his favorite past times.

"She still is," the lead singer practically growled. "And you guys aren't invited."

"Why not?" Nate asked innocently.

"Have you ever heard the expression, 'Two's company, three's a crowd'?"

"But there are four of us," Jason interjected, sounding confused.

"I don't think he wants us to come with him, Jason," Nate said, trying to sound hurt.

"I don't invite myself along on your dates," Shane snapped.

Nate grinned. He had known all along that it was a date, but he enjoyed frustrating his friend. And he was pretty sure Shane knew exactly what he was doing – especially since Shane would have done the exact same thing to him if the positions had been reversed. His smile faded a little when he noticed how genuinely disappointed Jason looked. Sometimes he forgot that Jason wasn't always aware that his friends were joking around.

Shane must have noticed the same thing, because he placed a hand on the guitarist's shoulder. "I'll let her know you want to get together, though. I bet she'd love to see you."

"Really?" Jason asked, perking up considerably.

"Really," Shane said before adding, "But as friends, right? Cause I asked her out first."

Jason nodded happily as he picked up his guitar.

Nate chuckled to himself. He couldn't wait to tell Caitlyn that Shane had called dibs on her.


	3. Dinner Plans

_Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock or Zagat (even a copy of one of their books)._

_Author's Note: This is super-lame, but I wanted to write something. Special thanks to angellwings for the encouragement._

Shane was pretty sure he was over-thinking this date. Normally he called up some trendy place that regular, non-rockstar people had to wait months to get into, but from what he remembered, Caitlyn had never liked things that were obvious and popular. He had made and canceled three different dinner reservations so far and was actually considering just opening the Los Angeles Zagat guide and going to whatever restaurant he saw first, when he finally decided to just call and ask her what she wanted to do. His plan was to appear chivalrous instead of clueless.

It didn't go as planned.

"Hi Shane," she answered after two rings. "Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course," he said in a voice he hoped sounded calm and relaxed. "I just wanted to find out what you felt like eating. Do you want to go someplace fancy or more casual?"

"Whatever you want to do is fine," she replied vaguely, causing him to grimace. He had hoped she would have an opinion; not only would that put an end to his suffering, but it would guarantee that she would like the place. And he really wanted her to have a good time.

"But I want to make sure it's a place you'll enjoy," he answered gallantly.

"I'm really not picky. I'm sure anything you chose will be fine."

"There's no place you've been wanting to go to?" He asked with a touch of desperation in his voice that he really hoped she wouldn't pick up on.

After a brief pause, she said with a hint of laughter, "Having a little trouble picking a restaurant, Gray?"

"What? No!" He sputtered. As she giggled at his outburst, he realized that denying the truth would only make things worse. Sighing, he admitted, "Okay, maybe I'm having a little bit of trouble deciding where to go."

"Somehow I never pegged you for the indecisive type," she teased.

"I'm not," he retorted, his frustration bubbling up after having to deal with Nate's teasing and an hour and a half of trying to decide where to take her to eat. "I have no trouble picking a place I'd like, but I'm trying to find someplace you'd like and you're not helping!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and he cursed himself for practically snapping at her. That hadn't come out right. He was a total idiot!

"Caitlyn?" He winced when she didn't reply right away. He really wanted a do-over on the entire phone call. As soon as he thought that, he smiled. "How about I hang up and call you back and we forget this conversation ever happened?"

"You're an idiot," she replied dryly.

He was pretty sure she was rolling her eyes at him, but he could also practically hear her smiling and knew he had been forgiven. At that moment, he was totally confident that asking her out had been one of his better ideas. This entire mess of a phone call reminded him how much he had always liked the fact that she treated him like a regular person and that she didn't take things too seriously. If it had been Mitchie, he would have been apologizing for weeks for being cross with her, but Caitlyn would just mock him and move on.

"So should I hang up and call back?" He asked, pretty sure she wouldn't need the actual do-over.

"No. I'll take pity on you this one time. But you'd better be way better at talking in person than you are on the phone."

"I will do my best," he assured her. After a moment he added, "So is there any place you want to go for dinner?"

"You sound desperate," she pointed out.

"I am," he agreed. It only took a moment for him to figure out how to turn this to his advantage. "I've made and cancelled three reservations in the past hour trying to impress this amazing girl I ran into today. Maitre d's all over Los Angeles are cursing my name right now."

"That's sort of sweet and pathetic at the same time."

"With an emphasis on the sweet, I hope," Shane replied lightly, trying to highlight the positive.

"Not so much," she joked. "But you're lucky that I'm feeling generous right now since this really cute guy asked me out. In fact, I'm feeling so generous that I'm going to hang up and make you some dinner reservations."

"Really?"

"Yup. All you need to do is dress casual and pick me up at seven."

He knew he should probably argue or at least offer to make the call for her, but he was so relieved that instead he announced, "You really are amazing!"

"You have no idea, Gray," she said suggestively.

He grinned and glanced over at the clock, wishing that it was seven already.


End file.
